A MOTHER'S LOVE

My student Azizol Hakim who met with an accident on the 16th of August is recovering at home. He was hit by a car while travelling on a motorbike to send food from the wedding feast of his brother to his grandmother's house. He sustained injuries to his head and also vertebrae and had to undergo an operation to remove the top part of his skull (which we call the cranium) as the results of his X-ray scan showed that his brain was swollen. Removing this protective covering of the skull would help lessen the pressure on the brain membrane. He now only has the scalp as a covering. Once the swelling has gone down the cranium would be placed back on surgically. This would take about 4 months.

All the above were related to my friends and I by Azizol's mum when we went to visit him in the evening. Earlier in the day, his class teachers and classmates visited him.

We did manage to speak with Azizol for a short while but did not want to tire him out as he was resting in bed. According to him, he was suffering from headaches and he was feeling sore. A few of the discs in his backbone were dislocated and therefore he was having the discomfort. It would take some time for the doctors to do something about the discs as they need to tend to the swelling in his brain first. Azizol wants to sit for his SPM examination in November this year.

Note that I did not take any photos with Azizol but only with his loving mum. I told him that I would take pictures with him when he was much better and looking his normal handsome self. And that is a promise I intend to keep.

As usual, I was again able to see the love a mother has for her son. From the conversation with Azizol's mother, I learnt of all her fears and the traumatic experience she went through when her son was hit by the car. I could imagine the heartbreak she had to go through to see her second youngest child lying helpless with blood covering his head. Azizol's whole head and face was swollen and he only had slits for eyes. The mother said that she fainted a few times and was numb, blur and incoherent many times during the whole ordeal. Then there was the hellish moments of waiting for him to come out from the operation theatre. From the time he was hit until after the operation, he was drifting in and out of consciousness. Thank goodness Azizol managed to pull through with his mum by his side. She kept vigil at his bed all the time and made sure that he was okay. I am sure that many would have prayed for this s0ft-spoken and genuinely nice boy and God has answered their prayers. The road to recovery for him will be long and painful but I am sure with love from his mum and his family members to help him along, he will be able to make it.